Another Convincing Road Win For The Cobbers

NORTHFIELD, Minn. (10/08/11)—Fullback Brett Baune rushed for 102 yards and three touchdowns and the Concordia defense held Carleton to only 128 yards of total offense as the Cobbers overwhelmed the Knights 26-7 in Northfield.
The Cobbers set the tone for the perfect autumn afternoon by scoring on the opening possession of the game. CC marched 75 yards in 13 plays to take a 7-0 lead with 9:52 to play in the first quarter and never looked back. Concordia's go-ahead TD marked the first time all season that Carleton had given up any points in the first quarter. The Cobbers would add another Baune touchdown in the second quarter to take a 14-0 lead at halftime and then built a 20-0 edge in the third frame before the Knights would score their only touchdown of the game on a 92-yard kickoff return. CC finished off the scoring at the start of the fourth quarter on Baune's final score of the afternoon.

Baune carried the ball 17 times and finished with over 100 yards for the second time this season. It was also Baune's second game where he scored three TD's. He now has 12 touchdowns on the year and has scored at least on TD in all six games this season. His 12 overall touchdowns is tied for the conference lead and is seven shy of the Cobber single-season record for TD's of 19 set by Adam Swingdorf in 2007.

The Cobber defense continues to progress as a unit each week. The CC "Black Shirts" forced four turnovers for the second straight week. They have now come away with 15 turnovers on the year and their +8 turnover margin leads the MIAC.

The two biggest statistical numbers for the defense came in total offensive yards allowed and third-down conversion rate. The 128 totals yards in offense is the fewest allowed by a CC defense since the 2002 season when they kept Carleton to only 60 total yards. Concordia also held the Knights to only 3-of-12 on third down plays and only allowed Carleton to post three drives that lasted more than five plays.

The Cobbers also came up with seven sacks on the day and now lead the MIAC in QB tackles with 28. They have recorded at least two sacks in every game and have had three games where they have gotten the opposing teams quarterback behind the line at least five times.

Tyler Spiczka came away with a pair of interceptions on the afternoon. He also had 2.0 tackles and one pass break up. Bryce Hentges recorded his league-leading fourth "pick" of the year. Hentges also had 4.0 tackles. Peter Hvidston led the team in tackles with 10.0. He has now had at least 10.0 tackles in three of the last four games and has 56.0 on the year. Fellow linebacker Matt Monekedick had 9.0 tackles and is now fifth in the MIAC in overall tackles with 57.0. Both Paul Streich and Tyler Berling had 1.5 sacks. Streich now leads the MIAC in sacks with 6.0.

On offense - Concordia ran 65 plays, gained 354 yards of total offense and held on to the ball for 33:26. The CC offense was also 7-for-14 on third down conversions and 1-for-1 on fourth down attempts.

Senior quarterback Michael Dunham was an efficient 11-for-14 for 129 yards and one TD on the day. He also ran for 29 yards. Dunham now needs only 490 yards to break the school record for career passing yards set by Ethan Pole from 1995-98. His 546 career completions are 106 shy of Pole's record of 667.

Besides Baune and Dunham, the two biggest stat fillers for the Cobbers were Bronson Shepherd and Luke Gotta. Shepherd caught five passes for 79 yards and also one TD while Gotta ran the ball eight times and gained a career-high 61 yards.

Concordia now heads back to Moorhead to host Augsburg on Saturday, Oct. 15 at 1 p.m. in the annual Homecoming game.